Monthly Archives: February 2012

So, a couple weeks into January I realized that 2012 is a leap year. Which means that technically, this project should be called 366 days of self-care, but I like the way 365 sounds better so I decided not to change it. It does mean that I have one more day to get this right, and I’m ok with that.

Epic Wednesday self-care for the last day of February:

counseling

acupuncture

garden prepping

and I bought myself a bouquet of my favorite flowers, pink ranunculus:

I haven’t had a poem resonate this hard with me in a long time. It encapsulates my goals/hopes/dreams with this project (and where I’m currently at in my life) perfectly.

Thank you to Wesley Flash and his How to Love Project. The project is wrapping up now at the end of February, and I have so enjoyed reading through it and gathering information to inform my own love process. I struggled with filling out his survey, but I finally did it after midnight last night. I wanted to be a part of the project, even though my own feelings around love and being in love are complicated and raw right now, still. I’m glad I contributed and doing it helped me heal it all a little more. And I agree with Wesley when he writes:

love makes all of us do/feel/and say stupid shit, but it doesnt matter because, to us, in those sacred moments, love conquers all. we all want to believe this and many of us always do and for most of us, at some point in our lives, love is all we’ve needed to make it through the night. which is what makes the loss of it so tragic, terrifying, and real.

And also for me, love and loving myself is also about learning how to mourn. And how to get back to knowing myself by heart.

The Gifts of Imperfection and I Thought it Was Just Me (but it isn’t) both by Brene Brown, whose TED talk on vulnerability that I posted here awhile ago changed my life. Thanks to my friend Kernan for the book suggestions! I love a self-help book, and I can’t wait to get into both of these. It may have to wait until spring break unfortunately, but I did read the introduction to one of them and I’m totally excited about it.

I probably shouldn’t go shopping after a full day of class and school, but it was necessary. Feeding myself well and cooking the food I want to be cooking is proving to be a bit difficult during my work week, so splurging on pre-made yumminess is sometimes what I have to do to stay sane.

And when I got home I made hot berry compote to spoon over vanilla ice cream. So good. So worth the sugar rush.

Today I spent a few hours cleaning my room instead of going to skating practice. In trying to balance work, school, and having a semblance of a social life, I have let things go a bit in my personal space. As someone who likes organization and order, the state of my room has been producing some anxiety for awhile now. I need my room to be a place that I can retreat to, that I can feel productive in, and when it gets as messy as it has been, I lose it.

So today, I tackled it. A few weeks ago I started cleaning out my closet with a friend, and today I finished the task. I have bags of stuff to take to fat fancy and to a rummage sale we’re having at my school. It feels so good to look over and see my things again. Instead of buried in piles and papers. I still have a small bit to finish up tomorrow, plus laundry to put away, but overall I’m so happy that I took the time today to tackle my room.

I need to remember that cleaning my room and taking care of essential tasks is just as valid as buying myself treats or going out to eat. It’s the kind of self-care that keeps me grounded, keeps me sane, keeps me moving forward and motivated. It opens me up for more elaborate ways of taking care of myself. And I’m all about that.